mental_floss magazine
SUBSCRIBE >
GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS >
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS >
subscriber services >
In many respects, we the people of Earth are pretty savvy, technologically and otherwise. We can read genetic code, interpret the faintest glimmers of light from the night sky to learn about the makeup of unimaginably distant worlds … and that iPhone is pretty cool, too! But we still, after all this time, haven’t found the perfect way to dispose of a dead whale. The most infamous example of this is the legendary Exploding Whale incident which happened on the Oregon coast in 1970. (I was truly surprised to discover, after a quick search of the _floss archives, that we have never posted this video. Let me rectify that right now.)
So if you can’t cut them up (too gross), bury them (tough to dig them deep enough) or blow them up (as established above), what can you do? Actually, explosives are still a common tool for whale deconstructors, but typically the carcass is hauled out to sea first, where the flying bits won’t muck up the shore (or crush any parked cars … see video). But even this doesn’t always work, as evidenced by a failed attempt in Iceland in 2005, when after a controlled explosion split an out-to-sea whale carcass in two, the halves drifted right back to land. Worse still was an organic explosion, which occurred while whale necrologists were transporting a carcass through the Chinese city of Tainan, Taiwan in 2004.
Residents of Tainan learned a lesson in whale biology after the decomposing remains of a 60-ton sperm whale exploded on a busy street, showering nearby cars and shops with blood and organs and stopping traffic for hours. The 56-foot-long whale had been on a truck headed for a necropsy by researchers, when gases from internal decay caused its entrails to explode in the southern city of Tainan.
Obviously, we need some _floss-quality thought put into this. Anyone got any brilliant ideas?
Comments (19)
Comment
- Follow mental_floss
A “whale necrologist,” huh? I wonder what inspiration drives people to that profession!
posted by Miss Cellania on 7-20-2007 at 10:46 am
Could the whales not be brought out into the ocean and sunk, either by tethering them to something or by weighting them down? That way they wouldn’t be mucking up the shore, and could be eaten up by undersea wild life. Seems much more natural. And cheap and easy.
posted by Melissa on 7-20-2007 at 11:45 am
I am with Melissa on this one- that seems like such an obvious solution though. Maybe they just really wanted to blow something up.
posted by Isaias Torres on 7-20-2007 at 1:05 pm
I think getting them from the shore to the water without creating a bigger mess is the reason Melissa’s suggestion isn’t tried more. In most cases they wash up in remote areas where you can’t get heavy equipment in to lift them. Tying a rope to the tail, hooking up a boat & dragging it out won’t work; the things weigh several tons, and once they’ve started to decompose… Well, you saw the results in Taiwan.
The video reminded me of a story about a builder who had a large rock that was in the way of his next project. He didn’t have the equipment to move it, but reasoned that a good charge of dynamite ought to reduce it to a number of rocks of a more manageable size. So he dug under the rock, stuck a couple of sticks in the hole, lit the fuse, and watched as the rock jumped almost straight up and landed just a couple of feet from a newly formed crater, still in the way of his project.
A wise old farmer watching the whole process suggested that the problem was with the placement of the charge; it should be placed on top of the rock instead of under it. When that was tried, the boulder was reduced to many smaller rocks; the desired result.
I wouldn’t necessarily suggest doing that with a dead whale, but if the charges had been placed on top of the carcass back in 1970, that Cadillac may have fared better.
posted by Dave on 7-20-2007 at 2:28 pm
Pretty much the best post ever. I have no suggestions for a better whale disposal. Just wanted to give a shout out.
posted by Emily on 7-20-2007 at 3:39 pm
in New Zealand the native Maori people have a spirtual connection with whales so they are burried. you say digging a hole big enough is too hard – we say you haven’t tried hard enough. oh and our marine biologist do autopsy on the beach saves on mopping up.
posted by Ruth on 7-20-2007 at 4:32 pm
agreed. excellent post.
posted by ac on 7-20-2007 at 5:01 pm
Well if the whale is fresh they could have a whale cook-off. They could eat whale for days and when it’s over bury the bones or make buildings out of them. Mmmm… whale chili!
posted by Rachel* on 7-20-2007 at 6:10 pm
I propose the “Necrobot”: a self-directed cross between a Cuisinart and a sump pump. Dozens of little Necrobots would crawl over the cadaver and with whirring mechanic teeth consume its flesh. Disposal tubes coming from their backsides could then pump the liquified ex-whale out beyond the breakers.
posted by Josef Matulich on 7-21-2007 at 6:11 am
Dave is a genius!!! Love you Dave
posted by Blanca on 7-22-2007 at 3:46 pm
skewer the pieces and bbq. add oyster sauce and cilantro for a new taiwanese snack!
posted by infobitch on 7-22-2007 at 4:07 pm
Build a large crate around it and toss in some dermestid beetles.
posted by Jason! on 7-23-2007 at 8:18 am
Wow, that video is ages old.
posted by Bob on 7-23-2007 at 4:39 pm
this picture is sad :(
posted by diana on 4-23-2008 at 9:16 pm
Eeeew gross!!! but what a hoot! After seeing the film I just thought of 2001: A Space Odyssey- with the scene where the apes encounter a giant dark monolith,descending into screaming and destruction. Here start people curiously poking at the giant dark carcass with sticks and then deciding to do something cataclysmic, dynamite yeah! The pink mist showering the beach and then huge black oily chunks coming down like brimstone. What a laugh! I don’t think they’ll do the explosives like that again- no sir! This time there will be volunteers to cut the next bad whale up!
posted by Sarah on 8-26-2008 at 3:46 am
Apparently, a recent trip to the whale museum in Husavík, Iceland informed me that the Icelandic phrase for ‘windfall’ or ‘lottery win’ is the same as that for ‘beached whale’…
posted by Dan Eastwell on 10-10-2008 at 3:21 am
This picture is discrasful it is absolutly horable i think you should take it off.
posted by jessica on 10-20-2008 at 9:15 am
I think this is actually quite revolting, the taiwan pic is gross to look at and the whale blowing up video…well i know it is dead but could they give it a slightly more respectful burial?????
posted by Lily on 11-3-2008 at 8:13 am
if you didnt kill the poor whales in the first place, there’d be no need to dipsose of them!!!
posted by Abiii. on 1-8-2009 at 9:01 am